


Chilled

by orphan_account



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Dean Isn't in High School, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Frozen Yogurt, Homophobia, Human Castiel, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Internalized Homophobia, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, M/M, Mechanic Dean, Minor Jessica Moore/Sam Winchester, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Gabriel, Sick Character, So Does This Even Count as a High School AU?, Tags May Change, Warnings May Change, oh well
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-25
Updated: 2016-04-20
Packaged: 2018-05-16 02:30:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5810098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After an argument and a round of rock, paper, scissors, Dean Winchester gets dragged into a frozen yogurt place by his younger brother, Sam. He would much rather be in the diner selling ice cream across the street, and makes that very apparent. However, much to Sam's confusion, Dean ends up going back for more yogurt on more than one occasion. Little does he know, his new friend Castiel Novak, the mysterious, formerly homeschooled boy behind the register, is the cause of his brother's change in taste. Dean also can't comprehend why he feels so attached to the younger boy, but still makes his best efforts to break down Castiel's walls in order to become "friends." Meanwhile, Castiel is facing major conflicts with both his large, religious family and himself.<br/>(Slow chapter updates!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It's Not So Bad

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic I've ever posted. Please leave me comments on how you think I’ve done so far! This started off in my head as a one-shot, but then it kind of morphed into something a hell of a lot more complex :3 I'm not sure how often I'll update, because it takes me a few days to write and edit each chapter, but I'll try to update at least once or twice a week.
> 
> Finally, I'm transferring this off of my Google Docs, so the formatting gets all messed up and for some reason I can't italicize anything.

“Son of a bitch,” Dean Winchester growled in frustration, pulling his right arm back to the dark steering wheel. The black car’s engine still purred as the mid-day sun reflected off of it, even though it was parked in a small parking lot. He banged the heel of his palm on the wheel lightly in defeat. 

“You know,” came a voice from next to him, obviously through a triumphant smirk, “you don’t have to do scissors every time, Dean. That’s why you always lose.”

He glanced over his right shoulder at the teenage boy next to him, only to be greeted by the boy’s snickering.

“Shut it, Sammy,” He snapped, sending his younger brother a glare. There was no heat behind it, however, just pure frustration. With a sigh, he took the key out of the ignition and swung open the car door, “Good thing I won’t have to deal with you five days a week, starting tomorrow.”

He gently closed his door in fear of damaging his car, only to be followed by a slam from the passenger’s side. Instantly, Dean’s head whipped around to meet his brother’s gaze, the fourteen-year-old’s hazel eyes filled with a mixture of amusement and annoyance.

“Hey! Be careful with my Baby! You’re lucky I even agreed to your stupid idea of where to go,” He pointed a finger at Sam, as if he were making a threat.

“Don’t bring up school during the last day of summer vacation, and don’t call me Sammy, then. For the last time, its Sam,” the brown haired boy sassed back at his brother, finally walking towards the medium-sized plaza of stores and small eateries in front of them.

With a scoff, Dean took a few long strides to catch up with the younger teen. As the two made their way down the sidewalk, Dean couldn’t help but think that his brother would probably grow up to be as big as a moose, at the rate he (and his hair) have been growing.

“Dude!” The green eyed boy whined as they neared their destination. He glanced up at the bright green sign that said ‘Sweet Tooth Yogurt’ (how lame was that?) and scowled, “Why d’ya have to be such a health nerd? I hate frozen yogurt.” 

The brothers had been trying to decide on where to go for lunch. Dean instantly pointed out that there was a diner serving ice cream in the shopping square. Sam huffed at the idea, saying that if they weren’t going to get any REAL food, it may as well be the healthier alternative. Naturally, after Dean parked in the lot between the opposing stores, they engaged in a frenzy of rock, paper, scissors.

“Dude!” Sam mocked as he reached for the door handle, “Because it tastes almost the same as ice cream, but it’s better for you!”

Dean let out a huff as Sam walked through the door. Dean’s eyes trailed over to the small diner across the street, with a neon, glowing sign stating “ICE CREAM” completed with an also neon soft serve on a cone.

Reluctantly, he turned back and strolled in behind his brother. Sam shot him another small smirk as he opened the second set of doors that you find in many fast food restaurants.

As soon as the door opened the scent of berries, chocolate and vanilla washed over him in one large wave. For a moment, he forgot his grudge against this healthy substitute, and let himself imagine all of the delicious toppings the small place had to choose from.

Dean’s manliness came back again as he took in his surroundings. The place was painted a light blue and decorated with yellow and green themed pictures on the wall. To one side was the small booth along the wall and about four or five sets of tables and chairs, all in pastel colors. On the other side was where the ‘fun’ began.

The wall was lined with dispensers filled with many flavors of yogurts, and at the far end of the room sat the array of toppings attached to the cash register.

“Sam,” Dean muttered between his teeth, “This place is so friggin’ gay.”

Instead of a reply, he got one of Sam’s signature bitchfaces, and was dragged into where the line should be. There was no one behind the register or in line choosing toppings and flavors, but there were a few people sitting down with their yogurt, seemingly enjoying themselves.

Dean helped himself to a large double chocolate frozen yogurt, then proceeded to pile on as many things as he possibly could, simply to make it as unhealthy as possible. This resulted in his cup looking, as Dean himself commented, even more gay than the assortment of colorful flowers next to the scale. Sam, ignoring his brother, got a medium regular with a handful of fruit and dark chocolate.

“You’re such a geek,” Dean observed after taking both the cups and placing them on the scale, seeing as the cups were paid for by the ounce.

“At least I won’t die of a heart attack from clogged arteries!” The moose retorted, trying to see behind his brother (who was still a few inches taller) and into the employees’ room, “Where’s the cashier?”

“I dunno, maybe they’ve decided that we should leave and get ice cream instead-”

“I apologize for keeping you waiting,” interrupted a gravelly voice from behind the taller of the brothers, “My brother couldn’t come in, and I was unprepared to stay another shift.”

Dean turned to complain for the length of their wait, but stopped himself short. The boy behind the counter looked about his age, maybe a little younger, and had light stubble across the lower half of his face. His hair was a very dark brown, almost black, and was left in a messy mop on top of his head, like he just woke up.

For a moment, Dean couldn’t believe that such a deep voice could come from a teenager. He was not short or scrawny by any means, but he was still shorter and leaner than both Dean and Sam.

“It was no problem at all,” Sam replied to the young man, “it wasn’t for very long.”

Dean’s gaze landed on the other boy’s face, who was now looking down at Sam in relief. Before he could look away, the man slightly raised his head and locked his gaze.

All of a sudden, Dean was mesmerized by the brilliant blue eyes of the cashier. They were the most vibrant blue he had ever seen on a real person before, a deep cobalt. 'I’m turning into a girl, goddammit.'

It looked as though the kid was waiting for Dean to reply as well. He cleared his throat but didn’t break the eye contact, “It’s okay, man. ‘S not your fault.”

The man with the blue eyes didn’t verbally respond, his only acknowledgement of the comment being the slight twitch of the corners of his mouth. Dean noticed the unnamed boy abruptly seemed to be nervous. He finally looked down at the cash register and then proceeded to ring up the two cups of frozen yogurt.

'Maybe he’s just not used to the extra hours,' Dean thought to himself, confused as to why the boy could be so rattled all of a sudden, 'He seemed fine a moment ago, though.'

“Eight seventy nine is your total,” the cashier informed them. He looked back up at the brothers, his face completely stoic.

It actually startled Dean, how the kid’s face could go from a slightly panicked expression to as if he had no emotions at all.

“Wow, that’s actually less than I thought it’d be, since mine’s kinda heavy.” Dean blurted out to no one in particular as he fished for a ten out of his wallet.

“Yes, my brother does pride himself in his relatively low prices,” the nameless teen chuckled back.

“Your brother owns this place?” Sam asked, watching the boy’s movements as he gathered their change.

“Yes. He took over after my mother,” there was a slight shift of his shoulders, proposing the topic was not a pleasant one, “One of my sisters works here also.”

Dean took the change from the outstretched hand, shrugged lightly because he had already put his wallet away and shoved it in his jacket pocket. Normally, they would have taken their yogurts and been already seated b this time, but Dean seemed to enjoy the small talk.

Not pressing into the kid’s obvious uncomfort to talking about his mother, Dean cocked an eyebrow at him, “Dude, exactly how much family d’ya have?”

The teen looked up at him through his dark lashes, and replied through a still straight face, “Too many, I’m afraid.”

Sam grabbed his ‘lunch’ and handed Dean his, jamming two plastic spoons from the counter into the yogurts, “What’s your name? You seem to be around our age but I’ve never seen you before.”

“Oh. Yes, I would assume that we will be in the same building when school starts again, as you look to be near my age” he seemed to snap out of his mask again, tilting his head just a hair at Sam and furrowing his eyebrows like no one ever asked him the question. Then, a ghost of a smile pulled at his eyes and mouth, “My name is Castiel. Castiel Novak.”

Realisation dawned on Dean, instantly recognising the last name, and said, “Oh, you’re one of Gabe’s little brothers” at the same time as Sam asked, “Gabriel Novak’s brother?”

“So you’ve met him, I presume?” The tilted head came back, this time more evident. It looked like he was avoiding eye contact with Dean, focusing on the area above his shoulder, but the kid was acting so weird Dean couldn’t be sure.

“Yeah, uh, he was in my class for as long as I can remember,” Dean replied, “We hung out a bit, especially last year. Never knew much about his family, though, except he had a big one and some of them got on his nerves. Didn’t know about this place, either.”

“He did mention something about a shop, once, but I never thought much of it,” Sam added.

Castiel just hummed thoughtfully and gave a single nod, suggesting there was more he could’ve said, but probably not wanting to get into a long discussion.

“Thanks, Cas. I usually don’t like froyo, but I think I might not mind it today,” Dean grinned at Castiel and shot him a wink.

He finally looked directly at the older boy, a faint blush dusting the top of his cheeks, “Cas?”

“Oh, sorry, if you don’t want me-”

“It’s perfectly alright. No one has ever given me any nicknames I agree with. ‘Cas’ is fine. Thank you.”

Dean cocked an eyebrow, since ‘Cas’ seemed like such an obvious name to go by. He looked down at the boy’s wrist, watching him toy at a band on his left arm.

“Bye, Castiel,” Sam waved after a second or two, already walking towards a table.

“Do enjoy your ‘froyo’, as Gabriel would say,” Castiel said to both brothers before turning and rushing off into the back room again, much to Dean’s amusement.

Dean sauntered over to take the light blue chair next to Sam.

“You know what?” Sam said, before Dean could pick up the spoon.

“What?”

“We never told him our names.”

“Well, I guess you’ll see him in school tomorrow. You can tell him then if you want,” Dean shrugged as he picked up his spoon, covered in chocolate yogurt with countless toppings. 

“Speaking of school, I wonder why we never saw any of Gabriel’s other siblings? He rarely talked about them.”

Dean shrugged again, shoving the repulsive spoon in his mouth. He grimaced before he could taste the frozen yogurt, bracing himself for the bitter, chocolatey flavor. However, it tasted a lot better than he had initially expected, and he widened his eyes in surprise. 

“Told you it was good.”

“Shut up, you bitch,” Dean instantly felt half a dozen eyes turn to glare at his use of such foul language in a family environment, and rolled his own in response. 

“Jerk.”


	2. Damn you, Gabriel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castiel sits at his desk, frustrated with himself, his apron and his father. He is then greeted by someone new, and is left even more frustrated than before, with a hungry cat to feed at home.

After closing the door behind himself, Castiel quickly took a seat at the desk in the staff’s back room. He didn’t bother to switch on the overhead lights, so the only source of effulgence was from the lamp on the desk. The green apron he was forced to wear was rubbing uncomfortably at his neck, and had been causing him to feel at unease ever since he put it on.

‘Damn you, Gabriel,’ he cursed in his head, trying to reach at the knot at the small of his back without having to stand up. Castiel had been getting ready to leave the shop when his brother requested for him to cover his shift, as he had a last minute dentist appointment to attend.

Castiel reluctantly gave in, too accustomed to following orders while living with his father not to. Before he could even hang up, he heard the front doors open and close, signalling the arrival of new customers.

Without a goodbye to his brother, he hit the end button, ran back to his desk to grab his apron and accidentally tied the neck straps too tight prior to heading out of the employees’ room.

By the time the scratching of the cloth began to irritate him, he had already met two impatient teen boys, and it would’ve been rude to prolong their wait in order to adjust himself.

The one with the long bangs draped over his forehead seemed very polite, excusing Castiel for biding their time. He looked to be a year or two younger than Castiel, yet very tall for his age.

On the other hand, the older boy seemed very irritated, just by the way his fingers were subconsciously tapping on his arm.

When the two met each other’s gaze after a minute or so, Castiel couldn’t help but stare as the second teen’s gaze softened in the slightest bit. His eyes were a brilliant emerald green and his face was flecked with small, brown freckles.

At that moment, the bothersome apron was forgotten and a sudden realization dawned on Castiel.

With a small sigh, Castiel finally pulled off his apron and turned to drape it over the back of the chair. He was rarely one to find others attractive, due to his homeschooling. He crossed his arms over the top of his desk, then laid his head down on top of them to try to clear it.

The problem wasn’t the sudden attraction to another person, he’d had crushes before, on girls. It was the fact that this person was a male. A man whose name he didn’t even know, who looked older and who was very much straight.

Castiel himself felt indifferent towards sexual orientation. Shortly after he had turned ten, he went with his father to meet the priest of the next town over. It wasn’t until then did he assimilate that being attracted to the same sex was considered a sin.

When Castiel brought it up again later that night, his father lectured him on the wrongness of lying with another man. He’d gotten red in the face and eerily quiet by the end of the discussion, and the young boy never spoke of it again. 

He felt another wave of frustration wash over him as he mentally listed all the other ridiculous things his father believed to be ‘against the will of God’.

Not many people aside from his siblings, his mother and, on occasion, his father showed him any real fondness, again because of him being home schooled. The people at his father’s church would smile and make small talk with him, or thank him for bringing cookies to a banquet, but none of them would talk to him as though they truly cared about him personally.

Those two brothers seemed to actually want to get to know Castiel. He may have only talked to them briefly, but in those few minutes they had asked taken the time to acknowledge him, instead of merely paying him for the yogurt and leaving.

Before he could fully lose himself in his train of thought, a small shuffling sound emitted from directly behind him. 

Without a second thought Castiel leapt out of his seat and grabbed at the figure’s arms. He then surged toward the wall, pinning the person against it in a defensive position.

“Holy fuck, Cassie,” the individual wheezed against his sudden outburst. 

“Gabriel?” Castiel questioned, immediately pulling back and dropping his arms to his sides. 

“Who else would it be, Casanova?” His brother snorted in response. Through the weak lighting, Castiel could see the silhouette of his light brown hair and the dopey smirk growing on his face. 

Castiel’s face began to heat up in embarrassment and he looked down to the side. In less than a second, however, his disconcertion morphed back into his previous frustration. 

“For the last time, Gabe, please do not call me by those names! My name is Castiel. Would you like me to spell it out for you?” He snapped his gaze back to his brother’s, slightly narrowing his eyes. 

“Whoa there,” Gabriel put both of his hands up in surrender, “No need for the sass! I’m just trying to find you a nickname, kiddo.”

Castiel instantly recalled when the green-eyed man had called him ‘Cas’. He liked ‘Cas’.

Not waiting for a reply, Gabriel slipped past him to flip on the light switch. The room was flooded with light, reflecting off of the metal tins that were filled with extra spoons and cups on the shelves lining the walls. 

“Hang on,” Cas blurted out, remembering something important, “Why are you even here? You called to have me take over your shift, and it’s been only half an hour. I have another hour or so to finish.”

Gabe turned on his heel to face his brother, a sheepish grin plastered on his face, “Yeah, well, about that,” he paused, a hand reaching up to scratch his neck, “I actually didn’t have a dentist appointment today.”

“In that case, why were you in such dire need of my assistance?” 

“I may or may not have been out until, say, at least three this morning?” He said it more like a question than a statement. He then gave Cas a half-hearted shrug, “I called because I woke up with my head throbbing like a bitch and still needed to shower.”

“Why the hell would you stay out that late?” Castiel snapped back, his voice dripping with vexation, eyes narrowed in slight anger, “You knew you had a shift here today! You can’t just use me to cover for your stupidity.”

“Calm down, Casserole, I went to get some drinks with a few people.” He paused and glanced at the door, then back at Cas, “Speaking of my friends, I saw Dean-o eating frozen yogurt with Samsquatch before I walked in! If I hadn’t seen it myself, I’d have called bullshit. He never eats anything that doesn’t result in diabetes.”

Cas just rolled his eyes and grabbed his phone off his desk.

“I am done with your shenanigans, Gabe. I do not know of this ‘Dean-o’ and ‘Samsquatch, and I’d like to leave you to your work.’” Of course, Castiel wasn’t telling the full truth. He had a very good notion on who his brother was referencing, but would not make it known.

Cas turned away from Gabriel, and began to walk towards the door leading to the outside of the room. He then looked back and shot the brown-haired boy a pointed look,

“Besides, staying out at such small hours of the night was very irresponsible of you. You should know better than that.” 

“I don’t need you to try to lecture me, little bro.” Gabriel scoffed, with a slight shake of his head and another infamous smirk.

He strolled over to Castiel before the teen could reach the door handle, with a pair of blue eyes locked onto him. He came to a stop in front of his brother, then proceeded to lean against the door to prevent said boy from attempting to leave.

“What are you doing now?” Cas let out an exasperated sigh and lamely tried to nudge his persistent sibling out of his way, “I would like to get home to feed my cat, Gabriel. Father is probably upset with my extended absence as it is. I wouldn’t want to anger him any further.”

“Surely you know who Sam and Dean are?” Gabe crossed his arms over his chest.

Ignoring the badgering look in the pair of golden eyes, Castiel replied as honestly as he could, “No, I do not know them. If you hadn’t noticed, there is an abundance of people outside the door that you are just so generously obstructing.”

“Come on, Cassie, there’s less than ten people out there, and most of them are women with their children. You can’t tell me you didn’t notice the only two teenage boys?”

“Why must you be so tireless? Yes, fine, the answer is yes. I don’t see how this is relevant to anything, though.”

Cas had to keep his expression as impassive as possible, in fear of the blood rushing to his cheeks.

“It’s really not,” Gabriel simply shrugged his shoulders, “I just thought you should know that Sammy is three grades below you, so you’ll see him at lunch and in the halls at school, is all.”

“I can assure you that that information will come in handy,” Gabe just raised an eyebrow, “but I still need to get back home.” With that, Castiel shoved his brother out of his way and opened the door, Gabriel letting out a ‘hmmph’.

“I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon, little bro!” Gabe said after regaining his balance, and reached into the pocket of his jeans to pull out a lollipop.

“At this rate, you certainly will need to see your dentist. Sometimes I wonder how you have managed to have experienced only one cavity.”

Cas shut the door behind him and walked out from behind the counter. When he realized there weren’t any more waiting customers, he was genuinely surprised. Normally on fairly hot days like this one, there would be many more patrons.

He walked towards the exit of his brother’s shop, but hesitated before opening the door. Castiel scanned over the faces of the few people still enjoying themselves at the colorful tables and booths.

When he couldn’t find either of the two faces he was seeking, he swung open the door and walked out into the sun’s warmth, trying to rid of the burgeoning disappointment in his stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who left kudos or a bookmark! I’ve been really anxious to update this story, but for me writing is a rather slow process (mostly on weekdays when I have school). Anyways, I’ll try to update once or twice a week!


	3. It's Just a Pulled Muscle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castiel walks home from the frozen yogurt shop, only to be disturbed by a familiar ache, now joined a new needle-like pain in his leg. He's also frustrated with his aunt and father for constantly questioning his decision to to to a public school, and Samandriel is really helpful!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was mostly so you could get to know the main details of Cas and his family. It’s pretty long :3 Also, I apologize if any characters are OOC later on or in this chapter. I had to mold them a bit to fit the story, but I tried my best!

Castiel walked down the long sidewalk, numerous buildings and passing cars next to him on both sides. He absent-mindedly kicked a small rock down his path every two or three steps.

He did have a license. His father said that all of his children should be able to drive in case of an emergency. It was the same reason as to why he had a cellphone; in the case of an exigency. The problem was that he didn’t have a car.

All of his siblings, save his younger sister, had vehicles of their own. Cas didn’t mind not having his own, considering his street was less than a mile from his place of work, and he didn’t have anywhere else to drive.

After a few minutes of abstracted walking, he turned down his street and towards his house. The ground on both sides of the road was covered with large trees, obstructing the view of most buildings.

The neighborhood, while rather large in size, hadn’t many houses. The properties were as sizeable as the houses build upon them, since the majority of the homes were that of families with some affluence. The houses certainly weren’t huge, but his own was big enough to house over eight people.

Before he could step onto his driveway, Castiel felt a sudden ache in his upper thigh. He slowed his walk and tried shifting his leg to rid of the pain, but that only resulted in a sharp, jabbing sensation in his mid thigh.

“What-” He yelped out in surprise. The sudden pain caused him to stumble forward, and before he could fall face-first onto the pavement, one arm found the mailbox sitting solus at the driveway’s edge.

As soon as it came, the needle-like pain dissolved back into smaller ache than before.

“Castiel!” someone, Cas’ mind was to temporarily clouded to recognize who it was, called out, voice laced with concern as he slammed the door behind him. As Castiel pushed himself upright, the other boy sprinted off the porch and across the grass to help him.

The boy grabbed Castiel’s arm to steady him, but Cas had been already up and balanced.

“Thank you, Samandriel,” Castiel gave the younger teen a small smile before resuming his apathetic mask to hide any discomfort in his expression.

“Are you alright?” Samandriel asked, an unsettled look upon his face, removing his hand from the older teen, “I was waiting by the window for you to come home when I saw you nearly collapse! What happened, exactly? Are you hurt? Should I get your dad?”

Castiel nearly chuckled at his rambling, but caught himself at the last moment in fear of taking away the seriousness of the moment.

“I don’t know,” he sighed, beginning to turn back towards the house. He gestured for Samandriel to follow with a slight nod of his head, “I had a strange pain in my leg, a pulled muscle most likely, and it took me by surprise, is all.”

Cas’ younger cousin raised both eyebrows at him and nodded once, expecting a more thorough answer.

Castiel just shrugged in response. “It’s never happened before, if that’s what you’re looking for.” That was only partially dishonest. Sometimes, his legs or hips ached, maybe fingers. He’d always supposed it was because he ran so often and was always busy with his hands. However, he’d never felt that stabbing pain before.

The two stepped up onto the porch and Cas opened the door. The cool, refreshing air engulfed him with a nice welcome. He hadn’t realized how hot it was outside.

“Hey, Alfie?” a female voice called out from straight ahead. Castiel quickly took off his shoes and followed his cousin out of the foyer.

“Yes, Anna?” Samandriel replied to his redheaded sister, who was sitting cross-legged on a chair with a book in hand.

The great room was the largest room in the house aside from the basement. Along one wall was a beautiful brick fireplace with a television over its mantle. On its side was a large bookshelf, filled with medical textbooks, books of religion, children’s fairy tales and everything in between. The windows, and glass doors to the porch, were rather large and let a substantial amount of sunlight pour in and brighten the room.

“Why’d you run outside so fast?” Anna flipped her book closed and placed it on the coffee table next to her. Her gaze flickered over to the blue-eyed boy then back to her fourteen year old brother, “Is Castiel okay?”

“He’s fine, I guess. That’s what he said, anyways.” Samandriel shrugged and took a seat on the brown couch along the wall.

Anna eyed Cas again, trying to pick apart his expression to see what was really going on. Castiel simply kept a soft smile played at the corners of his mouth, and his gaze completely blank to prevent her from unnecessary worry.

“Okay, then,” she concluded. Pushing herself off of the reclining chair, Anna grabbed her book and began to walk out of the room. She turned back around abruptly, remembering something, “You should tell your father you’re home. He was looking for you, he had something to say.”

“I will. I hope it isn’t anything bad,” Castiel replied before his cousin walked out of the room and began up the stairs. Cas turned back to his other cousin who was still sitting on the couch, now with a remote in hand.

“I still don’t understand why everyone insists on calling me ‘Alfie’,” the boy smiled and shook his head, “I’ve gotten used to it though!”

“I believe it had something to do with Lucifer, many years ago. However, I wasn’t there when it happened so I may never be sure,” Cas answered. Samandriel smiled in reply and shook his head a second time, in amusement.

The soreness in his leg forgotten, Castiel went to leave the boy and head towards the kitchen.

He walked past the fireplace and through the entrance to the kitchen. Before he could get to the pantry to find something to eat, a new set of footsteps crescendoed from the stairwell and into the cookery.

“Hello, Castiel,” another, unfamiliar female voice greeted him hollowly.

“Naomi,” Cas’ slightly-off posture immediately corrected itself in the newcomer’s presence. Naomi, Castiel’s aunt, had her hair pulled back into her usual low updo; she had her bangs swept off to one side and tucked behind an ear.

“How was work at the yogurt shop today?” She asked, placing her laptop on top of the kitchen island.  
“It was… very well,” Castiel replied, face contorted in confusion. Why was she being so suddenly kind to him? It was quite unlike his aunt to ask about his day, aside from things that directly concerned her.

Naomi folded her hands together and placed them lightly on her thin computer. She raised an eyebrow at him, “I would assume that you are nervous about going to a public school tomorrow?”

There it was. That was the reason of her sudden interest in Castiel’s day, or personal life in general.

Castiel had been homeschooled for his entire life, aside from preschool, kindergarten and the first grade. Ten whole years ago, when Naomi Milton and her children, Cas’ cousins, moved in, all the Novak children stopped going to public schools.

Michael and Lucifer went to a nearby private school, as they were in high school at the time and it wouldn’t have made sense to pull them out of the system entirely. The rest of the Novaks, Castiel, Hael and Gabriel, were homeschooled by private tutors and teachers. The Milton children, Anna, Rachel and Samandriel, also were taught at home.

After two years of being stuck at home, the third and fourth grade, Gabriel went back to his old school instead of going to the Christian one with his older brothers. He said he didn’t want to be stuck in a crowd of spoiled-rotten children with all the same, blue, tan and white clothes. Their father nearly had a fit and was about to force the boy into the private school, until their mother stepped in and allowed Gabe to do as he wished.

Naomi didn’t wait for a reply from Cas. She continued, “You are always welcome to stay home, Castiel. You have only one more year of high school left, and I see no point in you returning to the common school system.”

“No, thank you. I’ve been offered so nearly every day since I made my decision. I would like to go to this school without being criticized,” Castiel huffed back, then walked past the shorter woman to the pantry.

Naomi ignored his jab as she shifted to be able to see the boy. “You know, you could also cease working with Gabriel and service the church with your fath-”

“No!” Castiel snapped back before softening his tone to avoid punishment, “I said no. I’m fine with my part-time job and I’m fine with going to school with the average students. Please, Aunt Naomi, let me spend my last day of summer in peace.”

Castiel turned back again and began to rifle through the cabinet. He could practically feel it as Naomi narrowed her eyes at his back.

“Very well. I will be at the office until late. Rachel is in charge of dinner for tonight, and I expect you to have cleaned the dishes when I get back.” With that, Naomi grabbed her keys and laptop and strutted out to the front door.

Cas let out a halfhearted sigh before closing the cabinet door. Deciding he wasn’t hungry, he went to find out what it was that his father wanted.

He climbed up the stairs to the second floor and turned. The right side of the hall looked down over the great room, and on the left side, across from the railings that overlooked the large room was the office loft that Castiel’s father worked in.

He took a few steps and walked into the room. His father was sitting up straight in his chair, reading what could only be his next sermon aloud. Cas cleared his throat to make his presence known.

“Castiel?” the balding man looked over his shoulder after a second, at the young teen standing awkwardly in the doorway.

“Yes?” Cas replied, trying not to flinch at the piercing gaze his father was shooting him. ‘Maybe this is similar to what Gabriel means when he says I stare too much.’

“I was just wondering if you were absolutely sure about going to school tomorrow,” Castiel barely contained his eye roll. If one more of his family members asked him that, he was sure he would snap.

“Of course. I wouldn’t be going if I didn’t want to,” Cas actually winced at his words and hoped his father didn’t pick up on his impudent tone.

“All right, that’s all I have to say. Have you finished your chores for today?” The larger man spun his chair around to face his son completely.

“Yes, but I still have to do the dishes after we eat. I was planning on going to my room and reciting some biblical verses, if I may be excused,” Again, that was a lie. He wasn’t going to do anything of religious sorts, but he couldn’t help but feel relieved at the flicker of pride on the older Novak’s face at his empty promise.

Castiel’s father nodded and turned back to his desk, dismissing the boy. Castiel retraced his steps to the stairs and down to the second floor.

He was midway down the staircase leading to the basement, heading to his room, when the sharp pain in his thigh returned.

This time, it shot further up to right under his hipbone, similar to how when one hits the funny bone they can feel it in the pinky.

Castiel couldn’t contain his yelp of pain as he grabbed on to the railing to prevent himself from falling, and in a futile attempt to relieve the sensation in his leg.

After a moment of shuddering breaths and trembling fists grabbing onto the bar, footsteps rushed from either side.

“Castiel? Are you alright?” Samandriel asked in worry from behind him, hurrying down the stairs to Cas’ side.

“What’s going on?” a new voice, that of his sixteen-year-old sister, Hael, asked from the bottom of the stairs.

Castiel released his grip on the rail with one hand and pressed the heel of his palm into his eyes.

“I’ll be fine. It’s nothing, I pulled a muscle while running this morning,” Cas slapped himself mentally. He wasn’t usually one to lie, and he’d done it three, four times within the hour.

He shifted his weight and cringed at the second spike of pain. It lasted only a brief moment, but his sister had not missed the look on his face.

“Really?” Hael remarked sarcastically and looked up at him with the same searching stare that their cousin Anna had given him just minutes before. She was holding a pool stick in both arms, playing with its end of his with her right hand. Castiel presumed that Rachel was down the stairs and in the game room, playing as her opponent.

“I do not have any reason to lie,” he answered truthfully. He hadn’t a reason to lie, but he was still lying anyways. That seemed to satisfy her, and Hael turned to resume her game of pool.

Samandriel helped Castiel down the stairs, and the dark-haired, blue-eyed boy thanked whoever was listening that the pain had ebbed away and no one questioned his claim of a pulled muscle.

After a couple hours, Castiel lay in bed on his back, staring at the ceiling. He could feel the stress eating away at his mind. Whether it was from the uncertain future during school starting the next day, or the certainty that something was very wrong with his limb, he couldn’t be sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, there’s no Destiel at all! (Yet, anyways.) The next chapter is promising, though!  
> **  
> If you’re wondering what the Novak/Milton household kind of looks like, I based it off of [this](http://www.dreamhomesource.com/house-plans/dhs/collections/plans-with-5-bedrooms/dhsw08901.html) (I literally spent like two hours looking for a reasonable house plan. No wonder it takes so long for me to update chapters! smh)


	4. The First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the first day of school and Dean makes something healthy for once, Jo is upset, Kevin is taking four AP classes, Meg is a flirt and Balthazar is Castiel's hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating earlier this week! This is from Sam’s POV because I wanted to have both Castiel in school and a bit more of Dean. Shout out to my friend who recently started watching (and obsessing over) Supernatural after weeks of me begging her c:
> 
> This chapter's a bit longer the others (I think, anyways) to make up for missing a week!

Sam awoke to the smell of bacon and apples wafting through the crack under his door. He remained lying on his side, his mind still enveloped in a haze of sleepiness. It wasn’t until a few minutes had passed and he had woken up almost entirely did he decide to get up.

Sitting up in his bed, something highly disappointing dawned on him. He quickly glanced over to his bedside table and at the digital alarm clock that sat upon it. Sure enough, above the bright red numbers reading ‘6:03’, was the date.

September fourth. More importantly, the first day of his high school career. But, it wasn’t that Sam disliked school. As a matter of fact, he almost looked forward to it, seeing as it would put him on his path to become a lawyer.

The only complications were the few older students at the high school whom Sam would rather avoid. 

With a frustrated sigh, Sam pushed himself off his bed and used the light pouring in through his curtains as a guide while he shuffled towards his bedroom doorway.

Opening the door allowed the enticing scent of breakfast to fill his nose, try to lead him into the dining room and make him wonder what Dean could possibly be making that smelled of apples. But before he could give in and head towards it, Sam veered off to the right and into the bathroom.

Dean’s apartment was just the right size for the brothers. It had two bedrooms, a kitchen, a small dining room, a living room and a bathroom. Dean had only owned the flat for just over two months. He bought it not long before he graduated high school and moved in just a week later. Sam technically still lived with their father, John, but the eldest Winchester was away most of the time and Dean felt better having Sam stay with him, even if he wouldn’t say it aloud.

Sam relieved himself, washed his hands and then inspected his appearance in the mirror. His hair was a mess from sleeping on it all night and his bangs were beginning to outgrow. He made a mental note to tell Dean he needed a trim and to ignore any of the inevitable comments about his hair length.

He left the bathroom and walked out into the largest area of the apartment. The dining area, living room and kitchen were all open, the only wall being the extended counter between the kitchen and the dining room table.

“Mornin’, Sammy!” Dean greeted the younger boy with an unduly cheerful aura as he began to plate their food in the kitchen. Sam glared at his brother in response and slipped into one of the seats at the table. Dean’s hair was wet indicating he had showered, and he was currently humming something Sam didn’t recognize.

The older teen picked up the two dishes of food and strolled into the room in which Sam sat. He shoved a plate in front of his brother before taking a seat on the opposite side of the table.

Looking down at his plate, Sam was pleasantly surprised at what he saw.

“An egg white omelette,” he stated the obvious, picking up his fork and pointing it at the egg in front of him, “You actually made something healthy for once?”

“Don’t get used to it,” his brother replied with a shrug, “It’s your first day of school. Besides, it wouldn’t be a good breakfast without any greasy bacon to go along with it.”

Sam rolled his eyes and took a bite out of his omelette. He was instantly amazed at its great taste considering Dean had most likely never eaten anything like it before and had no idea how to prepare it.

“Well,” Sam started after swallowing his mouthful and meeting the expectant green eyes crosswise him, “It’s certainly better than the macaroni and cheese you used to make for breakfast when we were younger.”

Dean just chuckled and picked up his own fork. Sam took a moment to look down at his older brother’s plate, and nearly had to do a double take. Instead of the bacon and eggs Sam had been expecting, the older boy had a substantial slice of apple pie planted before him, still warm and currently being stabbed with Dean’s utensil.

That explained the smell of warm apples Sam had woken up to. How Dean had made two whole meals at such small hours of the day was an enigma.

“Dean,” Sam sighed, about to scold him. When his brother looked up at him with a pie-stuffed smirk, Sam dropped whatever he intended to say and hurriedly finished his food, annoyance clearly evident in his face.

Sam walked back to his room after finishing his meal and clearing his plate. He stripped himself of his pajamas and threw on a pair of jeans and a blue flannel, despite the warm weather. He made another stop to the bathroom, this time to brush his teeth and comb the mop upon his head, before pulling on his shoes and slinging his backpack over one shoulder.

Dean was leaning against the door frame leading to the main hallway of the apartment building, his arms crossed and waiting patiently. The eighteen-year-old wore a plain black tee shirt and was dangling the keys to his Impala loosely on one finger.

“Ready?” he asked in an overly enthusiastic tone, uncrossing his arms and throwing the keys up lightly, only to catch them as they fell back down.

“As I’ll ever be,” Sam muttered back.

The pair took the staircase to get to the ground level, since their apartment was only on the second floor. Once they were in the vehicle and after Sam made sure to close the door gently, Dean turned to look at his brother in a serious manner.

“You’d better stay away from that Ruby chick, Sam,” he warned as he blindly shoved the key into the ignition, “I know she hasn’t been around for the past two years, but just remember what happened after the last time I warned you to stay away from her.”

“For the thousandth time, Dean, I know,” Sam snapped in irritation before turning to look out the window. After a few seconds Dean ultimately twisted forwards, the Impala began to move and Sam slipped away into his thoughts.

Ruby Cortese was one of the high schoolers Sam wasn’t looking forward to seeing again. Since she was two years older than him, Sam only had to deal with her when he was in sixth grade and she was in eighth. Most of Lawrence’s middle schools included grades sixth through eighth. Ruby moved to the town a year before Sam met her, when he was in fifth grade and in elementary school. During that year, Lilith Cassidy and Meg Masters instantly took her under their wings, teaching her all their ways. When Sam entered the seventh grade, Ruby’s two allies had moved up to the high school, and the poor boy fell for Ruby’s manipulations.

Luckily, Dean caught on quickly and he, Gabriel and John put an end to everything before it could blossom into something more.

Eventually the Winchesters pulled into the high school’s large parking lot. The crosswalks were filled with students getting off busses, waving to friends and simply bustling about.

“Thanks, Dean,” Sam turned to nod at his brother.

“No problem, Sammy,” Dean responded with a wink. Sam huffed and grabbed the door handle prior to swinging it open. Before he could leave, Dean blurted out, “Wait, dude, your lunch!”

“What?” Sam craned his neck back to see his older brother holding his lunchbox out towards him. “I didn’t even see you carrying this,” Sam said before taking it.

“What can I say?” Dean smirked, “I’m just that good!”

After a final goodbye, Sam began to walk to the school’s entrance. He was halfway to his destination when he heard someone rushing up to him from behind.

“Sam!” called out a female voice. He slowly turned around only to spot a girl with long, blonde hair rushing after him.

“Hey, Jo,” he said with a smile as soon as she neared him. Her happy grin instantly shifted to a glower once she was directly in front of him.

“You and Dean were supposed to come to The Roadhouse on Saturday,” Jo reminded him with a soft punch to his upper arm, “You could’ve at least told me you were going to cancel!”

“I’m sorry, we had to-” Sam tried to interject her accusations, but was cut off.

“-God, you guys are such dicks sometimes.”

“Jo, calm down, we had to help Bobby with something!” By now, the pair were walking up the steps leading into the building.

“You could have said something! Ash was dying to tell Dean all about his first two days at MIT.” Jo glared up at her tall friend without any real intensity.

Sam and Jo entered the school, among the dozens of other teenagers. The freshmen orientation was exactly a week prior to the first day, so the new students already knew their way around. As if by chance, Sam and Jo’s lockers were almost directly across from each other.

In the midst of walking towards their hallway, Jo grabbed Sam by his sleeve.

“Hey, I didn’t know Castiel went here,” she said perplexedly. Sam recognized the name as the blue-eyed boy from the frozen yogurt shop, and followed her gaze straight ahead.

Sure enough, Castiel was only a small distance away, in the seniors’ hallway. He was facing away from an open locker, shoulders back and scanning the small crowd of students with a look of unease. He seemed almost out of place in his navy button down shirt and stiff posture.

“You know Cas?” Sam questioned his friend beside him.

Jo snorted and began to haul him towards the boy in question, “Since when does he go by ‘Cas’?” she muttered.

“Uh, since yesterday, I guess,” Sam answered nonchalantly before pulling his arm back from Jo’s grasp.

Castiel caught sight of the two freshmen heading for him and Sam could tell by the way his bearing relaxed that the older teen felt much more comfortable in the presence of people he knew. Jo went ahead of Sam to say hello to Cas.

“Hey, Castiel,” she affably greeted him. Sam came up behind Jo and gave Castiel a small wave.

“Hello, Joanna,” Castiel gave a slight smile to the blonde before looking at the tallest of the three of them, “Hello, Sam.”

“Dude,” Jo shook her head and informed him, “only my mom calls me Joanna. It’s just Jo.”

“And, how did you know my name?” Sam added, “I didn’t introduce myself yesterday.”

“My apologies, Jo. I’ll keep that in mind. My brother, Gabriel, told me you and your brother’s names yesterday, after you had already left. He and Dean were friends, right?” Castiel tilted his head slightly with the question. He quickly faced his locker and grabbed a pencil from somewhere inside before turning back to Sam.

“Yeah, they were pretty close. Your brother’s kind of an ass,” Sam chuckled.

“You think Gabe’s bad?” Jo scoffed, “He’s just annoying. I met Michael once, and let me tell you, that guy gives off an eerie vibe.”

“Yes, Michael can be quite… different at times. He seems to believe he is above everyone, when, in fact, he is not,” Cas apprised the two, “As for Gabriel, he may be very, very irritating but he is a good brother.”

“How many brothers do you even have?” Sam asked, as Gabe rarely spoke of his family aside from the occasional fight between his older brothers.

Before Castiel could reply, the bell rang to signal the beginning of the school day. Jo and Sam said a brief goodbye to the dark haired boy, Sam slightly disappointed he didn’t get a reply.

The first half of the school day progressed fairly quickly, each teacher giving out a syllabus and going over the expectations. By the end of fourth period, Sam was famished and extremely grateful that he had first lunch. He grabbed his lunch from his locker and headed for the cafeteria.

“Hey, Sam,” another new person greeted him from his right side. Sam could see the shorter boy from the corner of his eyes.

“Hang on, Kevin, did you get a haircut?” the Winchester asked, shocked. Kevin Tran, a fellow freshman, had always had fairly long hair for the past five years, and now it was no longer covering his ears.

“Yeah, I got sick of it after a while. I decided to change it up since we’re in a new school, and all,” Kevin shrugged.

“Huh. I’m actually surprised.”

The boys walked into the lunchroom and sat at the nearest empty table. After only a few seconds had passed and they had taken out their meals, Sam could see Jo walking towards them. With her was another blonde girl, Jessica Moore.

The girls sat down with them, Jess next to Sam and Jo next to Kevin. Jess said something about how great it was that they all had the same lunch, but before they could even continue with their conversation, another person slammed their school-issued lunch down on the table and slid into the chair across from Sam.

“This seat taken?” inquired a strong British accent. Without even waiting for a reply, it continued, “I cannot believe it has been two years since I last saw you four! Look at you now, such innocent freshmen.”

“Balthazar,” Sam groaned, “just go away, will you?” Balthazar was two years older than the freshmen, and was now wearing a ridiculous V-neck shirt.

“Wow. That was uncalled for!” Balthazar exclaimed, keeping a stoic face, but bringing a hand to his chest as if he were offended. He picked up his sandwich like he was inspecting it, then dropped it back on the tray with a scowl. “I heard Cassie gave up his home schooling. I really just sat here to make sure he’s doing alright.”

“Wait, why did everyone already know who Cas was except me?” Sam interrupted the older boy, “I just met him yesterday.”

“He and Gabe go to The Roadhouse a lot,” Jo replied as she brought her home made hamburger to her mouth. Kevin nodded as though he knew that already.

“My parents were good friends with his dad. We went to the same church, and you could say we’re pretty close,” added Balthazar.

Jessica leaned in towards Sam, but didn’t lower her voice, “If it makes you feel any better, I still have no clue who Cas or Cassie is.” Sam let out a chuckle, accompanied by the rest of the table.

Jo swallowed her food before pointing a finger ahead of her, “There’s Castiel, Jess. You can see him, he’s standing next to- wait, what?”

Balthazar, like everyone else at their table, turned to face where Jo was pointing. On the far side of the room, Castiel was holding his home lunch in his hands with his head tilted in a way that was becoming familiar to Sam. In front of him was Meg Masters, leaning into his personal space with a flirty grin plastered on her face. She appeared to be trying to convince him to sit with her and her friends, but Cas just took a step backwards.

Balthazar pushed himself up from his seat. He glanced over his shoulder at Cas and Meg, then back at the four younger teens and sighed.

“Well, somebody has to save him,” with that, Balthazar began to make his way for Castiel.

Sam watched as the older teen greeted Cas. Although it was too far to hear the exchange, Sam could see Balthazar switch his attention to Meg and subtly step between her and Castiel. Meg shook her head with an innocent demeanor and turned away, but not without winking at Cas.

Balthazar led a confused Castiel back to the awaiting freshmen after gesturing in their general direction. The British teen sat back down in his seat and patted the chair to his left.

“Sit here, Cassie,” he commanded.

“My name is not ‘Cassie’,” Castiel retorted, but took the seat anyways before unzipping his lunchbox. He glanced up and saw Kevin sitting crosswise from him, and the corner of his mouth twitched up in an almost-smile. “Hello, Kevin, it’s nice to see you again.”

“Hi Cas,” Kevin replied with a smile. Sam picked up on the use of Castiel’s new nickname, surprised at how quickly it caught on, “Long time, no see.”

Castiel seemed slightly perplexed at the phrase, but said nothing as he pulled out a sandwich. Sam noticed that his dark brown hair was much more tame than it was the day before, but still quite unruly.

“Cas?” Jo blurted out. Castiel looked up in acknowledgement, his sandwich paused less than half a foot away from his mouth. “Why was Meg Masters talking to you?”

“Is that a bad thing?” Cas asked, bringing his food back down and making eye contact with Jo. Castiel’s question was met with an awkward silence.

“Well, it’s not really a bad thing,” Jo shrugged after a few moments had passed.

“For now, anyways,” Jessica added, leaning a bit forward so she could see Joanna around Sam and Kevin.

Castiel seemed to pick up on the soreness of the subject and left it at that. He also noticed Jessica’s presence and politely asked for her name, since he had never met her before.

“My name’s Jess,” she replied. Balthazar just rolled his eyes at the attempt to steer away from the former conversation.

“Really, guys, I’ve been here the longest out of you,” he informed the group, “I can tell you that Meg has changed. She may be a year older than me, but I know for a fact she’s not the huge bitch she’s credited to be.”

“Oh, and how about Lilith?” Jo asked accusingly, “Or Ruby?”

“Okay, Lilith is still a bitch, I’ll give you that. I don’t hear much about Ruby, though.”

Castiel watched the exchange with what could only be a look of mild amusement. Sam waited until the blue-eyed boy looked his way to explain.

“Meg and Lilith Cassidy are in your grade and Ruby Cortese is a junior this year,” he saw Cas nod in understanding before he continued, “If what Balth said is true, two out of the three aren’t as bad as they used to be, but they still could cause trouble.”

“In that case, Meg was simply asking what classes I have for the rest of the day and trying to see if I would sit with her,” Castiel told the group.

Sam and his friends took this as a valid explanation, and the lunch period continued with small conversations. Jo made Sam promise to eat at The Roadhouse later, and Kevin explained that he was in four advanced placement classes. When Castiel asked him how it was possible, seeing as Kevin was only a freshman, the response he received was, “‘Cause I’m Kevin freakin’ Solo!”

Eventually, they all finished and the bell rang to indicate the end of lunch. While the group was pushing in their seats, it sounded as though someone fell into the table. At the noise, Sam’s head whipped around from wherever he was previously looking just in time to see Jo and Balthazar each grabbing one of Castiel’s shoulders.

From where he was positioned, Sam could see that Castiel was in pain. Before he could even blink, however, Cas replaced the face of hurt with his typical, placid one.

“What the hell was that?” Jo grilled the oldest boy who was now standing on his own, but had one hand on the table. At the same time, both Kevin and Jessica asked if he was okay.

“It was nothing. I believe I tripped over something.” Castiel shrugged before gesturing at the crowd of students leaving the cafeteria, “We had better get going before we’re all late to our next classes.”

The other teens shrugged it off and began to follow the mass of other high schoolers, but Sam didn’t believe Castiel. Because of his uncertainty, he made sure to stay behind Cas when they began to move.

Sure enough, Sam noticed Castiel’s slight limp as the boy pushed himself away from the table. It faded away after a few steps, but it was a limp nonetheless, and Samuel couldn’t be sure of the cause. Could it have been a pulled muscle? Did Castiel actually trip and hurt his limb? But, maybe it was something worse? Once Sam had sat down at his assigned desk during his next class, he decided to, like his other friends, simply shrug it off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To clear up some things with dates and ages:  
> Right now, it’s September. I’m aware that MIT doesn’t start until later on in the month but ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯.  
> Sam is fourteen (fifteen in May) and in 9th grade.  
> Cas is seventeen (eighteen in November) and in 12th grade.  
> Dean is eighteen (nineteen in January), Gabriel just turned nineteen and they’re both just out of high school (would be college freshmen if they went to college.) Ash is also eighteen and in college.  
> Kevin, Jo and Jess are in 9th grade (with Sam) and Balthazar is in grade 11.  
> Also, the beginning of this story is fairly slow. The next chapter will take place after school (Dean and Castiel will get to know each other more!), but after that, things will speed up.


	5. Harvelle's Roadhouse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Sam comes home from his first day at school, he tells Dean that Jo and Ellen are expecting them to be at The Roadhouse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After this chapter the pace will speed up a bit. You’ll also meet Castiel’s cat, by request of a friend :)

From the window of his beloved ‘67 Impala, Dean could see his younger brother amongst a group of high schoolers. Sam towered over most of them, seeing as he was so freakishly tall for his age. Only a few of his friends were taller than him, but Dean knew those students were older than Sam by a year or two, since Dean was in high school only a year before.

The older boy and his car were parked in front of the school, waiting for Sam to say goodbye to his friends. Dean impatiently drummed his fingers on the steering wheel to the AC/DC song that was emitting from his speakers.

Sam finally turned towards Dean and caught sight of the black muscle car. He parted from his companions and began to walk towards his brother.

While Sam was nearing him, Dean got a view of the teens who were formerly blocked by the moose of a boy. Behind Sam was Jo Harvelle, Jessica Moore, even Balthazar and- wait, that kid from the yogurt place?

Dean’s eyebrows snapped up towards his hairline. He’d had no clue that Castiel, the teen with the striking blue eyes, would end up befriending Sam. Of course, from their small encounter the previous day, Dean picked up that the boy was formerly home schooled. That most likely meant that Cas didn’t know a lot, if any, of the other students at the high school and Sam, being the compassionate brother, invited Cas to hang out with him.

That couldn’t have been the case, however, because the dark haired teen seemed to get along very well with Sam’s other friends. In the brief seconds Dean spent watching Cas and the others, he noticed that Jo put her arm around his shoulders and Kevin lightly punched his bicep- too friendly of actions for new friends. Castiel must have already known most of the group, and Sam just so happened to be friends with the same people.

“Hey, Dean,” Sam greeted him after throwing his bag in the back seat and closing the door behind him.

“Hey, Sam,” Dean replied, turning down his music. From the corner of his eye, he could see Sam smiling smugly, and turned quickly to shoot him a glare, “What is it, you little bitch?”

Sam’s smile only widened in response, “You didn’t call me ‘Sammy’, for once!”

Dean groaned, faced the road in front of him and began to drive away from the school, “Oh, c’mon, Sam. I thought something important happened, like, maybe you made a move on Jess.”

Sam rolled his eyes and stared out the window in defeat. The next few seconds passed in near silence until Dean turned up his music again, earning another one of Sam’s eye rolls.

Eventually they pulled into the apartment’s parking lot. Dean opened his door as Sam opened his own, waited for his brother to get his backpack, then locked his car. The yard surrounding the building was well maintained, with plants lined up against the wall that apparently blossomed into flowers during the spring. Part of the reason Dean chose this area to live was because the landlords took such nice care of it, though he would never admit it.

Of course, there were other factors for the location of his home. The most important was that it was close enough to his father’s house that he could walk there in just under half an hour, but far enough that it gave Dean space from John. Sam usually stayed with Dean, but that was only because John was normally too drunk to care.

It was also nice to live near a small shopping plaza. It was a five minute drive to get there, and it had a grocery store, a diner, an office supplies store and even Gabriel’s frozen yogurt shop, Sweet Tooth Yogurt.

By now, the Winchesters had made it back inside. Dean shook his head lightly to rid of his train of thought before closing the door.

“You hungry?” He asked Sam, walking into the kitchen.

“Yeah,” Sam replied from the living room, throwing his bag over his shoulder and onto an empty chair before taking a seat on the couch.

“Good, then get yourself something to eat,” Dean said smoothly as he grabbed himself the remaining slice of his morning apple pie from the refrigerator.

“Oh, come on, Dean,” Sam whined from his seat. While Dean prepared his plate, he heard Sam’s heavy footsteps heading for the kitchen. Repressing an infamous smirk, Dean grabbed a fork and brushed past the younger Winchester on his way to the couch.

Dean grabbed the remote once he settled down, the sound of Sam rifling through the pantry and fridge serving as a white noise. Once the television had been turned on, Dean realized he was just in time for one of his favorite shows, ‘Dr. Sexy, M.D.’.

Dean grinned to himself at his guilty pleasure. Doctor Sexy was, well, sexy. This obviously stirred up a conflict within the green-eyed boy, seeing as he was completely, one hundred percent straight. When he first began watching the show, about three months ago, and once he picked up on this thought, Dean concluded that it was completely fine to appreciate another man’s looks. And left it at that.

Sam plodded his way back to his seat with an apple, letting out a disbelieving snort. “Dude, what are you watching?”

“A hospital show. I think it’s based off a book,” Dean answered around a mouthful of pie.

“Since when did you hit menopause?” Samuel teased back, taking a bite out of his green apple, chewing and swallowing it, “We are not watching this, you can’t be serious.”

“It’s all that’s on on right now! Besides, this is only a rerun, it usually airs on Thursdays.”

“Oh, so you watch this in your free time, then?”

“Shut up, Sam.”

The two finished the show, Sam muttering in protest the whole time, even though his eyes were glued to the screen. Sam told Dean that the Harvelles and Ash were pissed that they didn’t go to The Roadhouse over the weekend, so the boys made plans to eat there for dinner. Three hours later, after Sam had finished his homework (Dean didn’t remember getting homework on the first day of school when he was in high school, but that was most likely because he couldn’t have cared less and just didn’t do it.), the boys were walking up to the mildly crowded eatery.

Dean pushed through the doors of The Harvelle’s Roadhouse, Sam in tow.

“Hey, it’s Sam and Dean!” Jo’s voice excitedly rang out from behind the counter of the bar, causing many pairs of eyes to turn from the single TV and towards the Winchesters. Dean scanned over the heads of the patrons sitting in the wooden seats before catching sight of the blonde girl trying to get out from behind the bar.

Before either of the brothers could reply or even move closer to Jo, they were cut off by an older woman holding an empty food tray and a half-drunken beer. 

“If it isn’t my two favorite Winchester boys,” Ellen Harvelle looked from Sam to Dean with a light smile on her face, which instantly soured into a faux scowl, “You promised you would be here on Saturday, and I expected you to keep that promise.”

Dean paused, not sure how to respond. Ellen may have been shorter than he, but Dean was certainly not one to push his boundaries when it came to the Harvelle.

“We’re sorry, Ellen,” Sam replied, looking down slightly at her because of the height difference, “but why was was that lunch such a big deal to everyone?”

Dean kicked his brother in his shin and Ellen narrowed her eyes, “Don’t you give me that attitude, boy.”

“Uh-” Sam hesitated to answer.

“Mom, chill,” Jo chided her mother as she came closer. She put a hand on Ellen’s shoulder, and with a humorous tone she said, “Sam’s right, it’s not that big of a deal.”

“Oh, right, like you weren’t doing the same to me during school, Jo,” Sam retorted.

“That’s different.”

“Okay, okay,” Dean impatiently chimed into the bickering, pushing past Jo and Ellen, “I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m starving.”

Ellen huffed in amusement and continued her way to the kitchen, with her empty tray and beer bottle, while Jo and Sam murmured in agreement with Dean. Dean led the way to one of the empty tables and took a seat. Sam sat down across from him, and Jo on his left.

“Aren’t you supposed to be helping your mom?” Dean asked Jo with a cocked eyebrow.

“Eh,” she shrugged, “I’ve done enough for tonight. Besides, I work under the table for my own mom, so it’s not like I can really be fired.”

Dean chuckled lightly and signalled for a waitress to come over. The waitress saw him and walked towards their table with a notepad and a flirtatious glint in her eye.

“What can I get you?” She asked Sam first. Dean let himself admire the attractive young woman, whom was probably around his age. She had medium length, blonde hair, a well proportioned body and blue eyes.

However, those eyes weren’t as blue as Castiel’s.

Dean mentally slapped himself, confused as to why the younger teen had been so prominent in his recent thoughts. Dean had only met the dude once, and It wasn’t until Jo cleared her throat did Dean realize the blue-eyed girl in question was waiting on him to order.

Dean lifted his gaze to meet the awaiting waitress’s, shooting her a wink, “Bacon cheeseburger, sweetheart.”

She flushed slightly and shook her head with a small smile before turning off towards the kitchen. It didn’t go unnoticed that her hips were swaying more than before.

“God, Dean, you’re such a flirt,” Jo sighed, propping her head up on her hands, elbows on the table.

“What can I say? The ladies love it,” Dean responded, pursing his lips slightly.

Sam faked a gag and Jo rolled her eyes playfully. They all sat patiently waiting for Ellen to bring their drinks. Considering the trio would hang out at The Roadhouse often, Ellen knew their regular drink orders. She never assumed what meals they would order, because Sam and Dean switched it up frequently, although Dean normally stuck with some form of burger.

The Roadhouse was a great place for the Winchesters to go. It was a hot spot for hunters because of the nearby hunter’s club. Many sports enthusiasts also enjoyed getting a few drinks at the bar and watching the games live on the brand new television Ellen had just purchased. Teachers and parents came to wind down after dealing with their children, families came for the inexpensive kid’s menu and teenagers came because Ellen served the best hamburgers. A mere four years ago, this place was nowhere near as well known as it was now.

Sam and Jo engaged in a conversation about one of their new classes. Dean picked up on something about Mr. Shurley, the english teacher. Dean chuckled inwardly. The guy was nice and great at teaching and all, but really needed to lay back on the alcohol. He never drank on school property, but you could as sure as hell smell the booze on him.

Dean was about to make another snarky comment as he did before, when he felt someone plop down on the seat next to him.

“Dean-o!” The one and only Gabriel Novak exclaimed, patting Dean’s shoulder, “With the Samsquatch and Blondie, too.”

Dean made a sound of disgust as his friend clasped his hands together and leaned over the wooden table. Dean also noticed his golden brown hair was growing out to be nearly as long as Sam’s.

Gabriel looked between Sam and Jo before pulling out a cherry lollipop from his back pocket. Jo held eye contact with him, a bored look on her face, as he slowly unwrapped his candy and winked. He leaned back in his seat, threw the sucker in his mouth and looked back at Dean.

“And Jo calls me the flirt?” Dean huffed, receiving a ‘Hey!’ From Jo.

Dean looked back at the Novak, who had an eyebrow raised in amusement at Jo, before pulling out the lollipop, “You know you wouldn’t stand a chance with me, anyways.” Gabriel’s voice was dripping with sarcasm, “You’re just too young and fragile!” 

“Just go away, Gabe,” Jo interjected, not dealing with his crap. Popping his sugar back in his mouth, Gabriel smirked and directed everyone’s attention to Ellen, who was now making her way towards them with their drinks.

“Hey, Gabe, how’ve you been?” Ellen asked the Novak, placing drinks in front of Sam, Dean and Jo. Gabriel looked up at Ellen and gave her a cocky smile, his usual.

“As well as I’ll ever be, Mrs. Harvelle,” He responded with feign sweetness around the lollipop. This earned a bitch face from Sam.

Ellen hummed in response before changing the subject. “Where’s Castiel? He’s usually here with you on Mondays.”

Dean suddenly wondered why he’d never seen Cas at this place before, since Dean was a regular there. He asked Gabriel as much.

“Yep! I’ve taken Casanova here every Monday for the last two months. You don’t come here Mondays, usually,” Gabriel replied. His eyes suddenly widened slightly, as though he realized something. He turned to Dean and lowered his voice so only Dean could hear, but had his eyes squeezed shut. “Shit, it’s been ten minutes.”

“What?” The Winchesters and Harvelles, four of them all together, questioned in unison. Sam, Jo and Ellen were confused as to what he had muttered to Dean, and Dean wasn’t sure what Gabriel had meant.

Gabe turned back to Ellen with a tight smile, assured her everything was alright and asked if she would bring him out a piece of chocolate cake for dinner. Ellen’s lips thinned, but she said no more as she turned away to greet the growing mass of new customers.

Gabe waited for the woman to retreat into the growing crowd before returning his gaze to his friend’s, “Dean, dude, Cassie went to the bathroom over ten minutes ago!” Sam mouthed an ‘Oh’ as Jo’s eyes showed her realization.

“Maybe he had to take a crap,” she suggested to lighten the mood, only to be met with three sets of glares, “Nevermind, I was trying to make a joke, jeez.”

“Why weren’t you with him? Be glad it’s only Monday and the partiers aren’t out,” Dean said. Gabriel just shrugged and got up before announcing he was going to check the bathroom for his younger brother.

Not even ten seconds after Gabriel had left for the bathroom did Dean hear the familiar, gravelly voice of Castiel Novak. All three teens at the table perked up and whipped their heads around, facing the opposite direction that Gabe went. Dean had to look around many heads of those seated at the bar before he could see the messy, dark hair accompanied by an unfamiliar person. 

“No, thank you,” Dean could barely hear what Castiel said to the stranger over the loud chatter. Cas was talking to a slightly older man, whom was obviously drunk and leaning in too close for Cas’ comfort. He said something inaudible to Dean, and grabbed the blue-eyed boy’s wrist.

“Oh, hell no,” Dean muttered, flying out of his seat and stalking up the ten feet between his chair and the bar. Jo and Sam each stood, but stayed at the table.

The man was now pulling on Castiel, trying to convince Cas to let him buy him a drink. Castiel stayed perfectly still, not budging, with a stoic face and a tilted head. Some patrons nearby looked on, but didn’t say anything. Dean was almost right behind the offending man when Cas spoke up again, now clear to Dean’s ears.

“I would like to get back to my brother now, sir. I have already spent enough time talking with you, and I’d like it if you let go of my wrist, or I’ll have to use force to get you to remove it.”

The drunk guy actually snorted and tugged harder, causing Castiel to take a single step forward. Cas’ eyes hardened a bit in frustration and anger, and Dean stepped in before the younger teen went and chopped the guy’s hand off.

“Back off, dickface,” Dean very near growled at the man one he had walked up directly next to him. Mr. Drunk smelled of rum, beer and body odor, complete with a cocky smile and terrible balance, “Before I get Ellen Harvelle over here.”

The guy’s eyes narrowed, but he yanked his hand off Cas’ wrist and put both hands up in surrender. Ellen was very well known in this area for running a tight ship when it came to violent drunks in her bar, not showing any sympathy whatsoever.

Once the intoxicated man had stumbled off, Dean turned to look at Castiel. To his surprise, the boy didn’t show any signs of fear, as if he weren’t just being seduced into drinking. Cas met his eyes and smiled a little bit.

For some damn reason, Castiel’s eyes had been very prominent in Dean’s recent thoughts. It wasn’t as though he were attracted to the younger boy, it was more that the color was mesmerizing. Or maybe it was just his eyes as a whole.

“C’mon, Cas,” Dean commanded in a gruff voice, shaking off the mood.

“Thank you, Dean,” Castiel said genuinely. When Dean began to walk to Sam and Jo, he caught up and looked at Dean, “but I could have handled myself, you know.”

Dean cracked a smile and shook his head, “Yeah, no problem. But, when did I tell you my name? And you were gone for- What? Ten minutes?”

Cas hesitated for a brief moment before he responded, “Gabriel told me, after you left the shop. Also, I was talking to Ash for a few moments, then after he walked away, the drunk man approached me. Finally, you showed up.”

They made it back to the table, the two aawaiting freshmen asking Castiel question after question as Dean pulled up an extra chair for Cas to sit on. Cas looked up at Dean to thank him when Gabriel suddenly came up from behind the teen.

“You’re back?” He asked his brother. Gabe looked disinterested, like he didn’t care, but Dean knew that face personally. Gabriel was relieved. Dean came to the conclusion that, like himself, Gabe was very protective over Cas, and probably had good reason for it.

“Yes,” Cas replied shortly as Gabe sat back down. Castiel was now seated between his brother and Dean.

When the pretty, blue-eyed waitress came back with their food, including a hamburger for Castiel, Dean didn’t spare her a second glance.

Conversation flowed easily between the group. Dean and Gabriel caught up on what they’d missed since they last saw each other, Ash stopped by to tell Dean what his first few days at MIT were and the high schoolers shared with Dean and Cas what was going on in their school.

He repeatedly caught himself looking at his new friend- if he could call Cas that.

He realized suddenly that he didn’t know anything about the boy aside from where he went to school and where he worked, “Hey, Cas?”

“Yes?” Castiel responded. He turned his full attention to Dean while waiting for a reply.

“What days do you work at that froyo place?”

Cas stopped to think for a moment. “On Sundays, I work from nine to twelve, on Wednesdays four to six and Saturdays from nine to two.”

“Oh, cool.”

Castiel tilted his head yet again. It seemed to be a near habit of his. “Why’d you ask?”

“Never thought I’d say this, but I think I’m beginning to actually like frozen yogurt.”


	6. Mothers' Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castiel has a fairly bad morning, thanks to his beloved cat, Bee. He then goes to work with Gabriel, and is surprised by who he sees there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I’m so, so sorry for the huge delay! Honestly, I have very bad writer’s block.  
> I’ll be updating roughly every two weeks from now on, unless I somehow finish a chapter early.

Castiel lay in his bed, staring aimlessly at the ceiling. It was his first weekend after starting public school, and he was already tired of it. Prior to starting school, Sundays were the only days he felt any drowsiness, because he had to wake up early to go to church with his family, then to work with Gabriel.

Now, because school started even earlier than his Sunday Mass did, he would have to be up at unreasonable times six days of the week instead of only one.

Castiel’s gaze trailed down his dimly lit walls and onto the dark curtains that were obstructing most of the sun’s light. It seemed fairly bright out, meaning it was probably around eight in the morning.

After checking his phone to confirm that his inner clock was correct- it was seven fifty-four to be exact- Cas reminded himself that it was Saturday and Gabriel would be arriving to bring him to his shift at the yogurt shop.

With a groan, Castiel pushed himself up and out of his full-sized bed. . He paused briefly, in wait of the random spark of pain that erupted in his leg on occasion. When it didn’t come, he assumed that whatever caused it had disappeared, as he had not felt the pain in two or three entire days.

He began plodding tiredly towards the window, to open the curtains. Due to the limited lighting, he couldn’t see the floor in front of him and had to use his memory to make his way around any obstacles in his path.

Of course, with Cas’ luck, everything went wrong. He was leaning over his wooden desk to pull the fabric aside when his younger sister, Hael, decided to bang on his bedroom door.

“Castiel, you have to hurry up, or you’ll be late for Gabriel!” She advised, rather loudly.

Poor Cas, startled by the sudden obtrusion, stumbled backwards nearly two feet onto something long and fluffy. This was met with a fleeting yet ear-shattering screech, causing Castiel to nearly leap out of his skin.

“What the-” Cas whirled around in the still dim light, ignoring his sister’s concerned voice emitting from behind the door. He blinked twice, focusing on the area where the screech came from, and was met with two glowing, yellow eyes. Everything clicked into place inside his still groggy mind. “Bee!” He exclaimed in frustration, heart still palpitating. In response, he got a brief hiss.

Cas knelt down to comfort the irritated animal, who he could almost see baring its teeth. At the same time, his door swung open with a slam. Light poured in from the hallway, blocked only by a female figure.

“Are you all right?” Hael questioned in alarm as she rushed to him. Castiel looked up from his pet to his sixteen year old sister. 

“It wasn’t I who got hurt,” he replied with a downward gesture. Cas watched as Hael’s eyes flicked down to the orange tabby cat that was now leaning into him, purring in content. She then looked back up at Castiel, her blue eyes narrowed and obviously irritated.

“I thought you fell or something, Castiel!” Hael rebuked him, crossing her arms and stiffening her back in a menacing way. She nodded towards Bee, “That stupid cat causes enough trouble. That serves it right that it got hurt.”

Castiel arose to his feet, followed by his quickly-forgiving cat jumping on top of his bed. With a calm aura, Cas looked to his sister. The girl had similar piercing blue eyes and dark hair as he had, although her eye color was a bit lighter and her hair was a bit darker, passed on from their mother’s side of the family. Hael looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, and he narrowed his eyes slightly at her,

“Maybe if you and everyone else in this house would stop being such an asshole towards her, she would act much more friendly.”

The younger of the two didn’t reply with any more than a shocked snort as Castiel brushed past her, leaving the forgotten curtains closed. Cas didn’t turn back to Hael before walking out of his room, but he could imagine that her face was masked with confusion and shock.

His cat, oblivious as ever, began cleaning itself on his pillow as if nothing happened.

Cas’ room was on the very bottom floor, secluded from everyone else. He didn’t mind, as having the basement to himself was nice. However, opposite from his own bed, was an extra bed for Gabriel, if ever the older teen needed to stay over. On the second floor, his cousin Samandriel had his own bedroom, while Anna, Hael, and Rachel all shared one. Castiel’s father also had his own room on the second floor, but it wasn’t the master bedroom. Since the Novaks and Miltons shared a residence, Zachariah and Naomi agreed that if Naomi could take the master bedroom, Zachariah could claim the loft as his office.

Castiel immediately regretted snapping at his younger sister. The two didn’t have the best relationship, but it certainly wasn’t as poor as his relationship with his father. Cas was never one to be anything but mannerful towards his family.

He could have blamed his sudden rudeness on being so ‘sleep deprived’, but if he were to be honest with himself, it wasn’t that. He was far from a hermit, but going to public school helped bring him out of the shell that was his family and his church’s community. He found himself forming more of his own opinions and feeling overall more open, now that he had been exposed to more people of his age.

Castiel hurried into the breakfast room once he made it up the stairs, pretending not to notice Hael in tow.

A small breakfast had been laid out on the table for him and Hael, most likely made by his cousin Rachel. Rachel was a year older than him, and enjoyed cooking very much. Her entire being seemed to light up the day she got her acceptance letter from a nearby culinary school, even when she had to spend weeks begging her mother, Naomi, to let her attend. Naomi hated ovens for very specific and understandable reasons, but Rachel refused to take “no” as an answer.

He sat down at his usual seat, the enticing scent of chocolate chip pancakes making his stomach growl.

Cas ate his small stack of pancakes as fast as he could without making a fool of himself. Hael sat quietly across from him, looking anywhere but in his direction as she ate her own. When he finished, he grabbed his now clean plate and brought it over to the kitchen sink, without acknowledging his sister.

“Hello,” Anna greeted with a smile, her bed head frizzing out in all directions. He smiled and greeted her as she opened the refrigerator to grab an apple.

“Where’s Rachel?” Castiel asked, “She made us breakfast, but I have yet to see her.”

Anna rinsed the shiny, deep red apple off under the faucet before turning back to him, “She had to leave early today. I guess she had some sort of project to do at school, for extra credit or something. She mentioned pie, but I, quite honestly, wasn’t listening.” She finished her statement with a bite into her apple and a shrug, then made her way over to Hael, who was still giving Castiel the silent treatment.

Taking note of the time, Cas retraced his steps back down to the basement. In less than thirty minutes, he had showered and gotten dressed, and was now sitting on his bed in wait for his older brother.

The blue-eyed boy wandered over to his unmade bed after flicking on the lights. Still on his pillow, Bee was stretched out and sleeping. Cas smiled to himself before finishing his earlier task of opening the curtains.

A light buzzing and beeping noise bounced off his walls from his bedside table. Thinking it was Gabriel telling Cas that he was outside, Castiel hurried towards where the sound came from.

Tapping the home button of his phone lit up the screen. He was instantly confused.

In place of the contact name he’d expected to be ‘Gabriel’, there was a new string of numbers that were unbeknownst to Cas. The message that was displayed underneath the foreign number was a simple, “Hey” followed by a winking emoticon. 

He furrowed his brows as he unlocked his phone and sat on the edge of his bed. Whose number could that have been? The only people he had given his cellphone number to were Jo, Sam, and Kevin, but they were all already in his contacts, and this new person was not. The only other person he gave it to was-

Wait. He knew who it was. How could he have forgotten?

‘Hello, Meg,’ he typed back as his reply.

Cas had a few classes with her, and, much to Sam’s dismay, the two had become good friends in only a short week. She was quite flirtatious, always smirking and winking, but never made any attempts on being anything more than friends. Castiel liked having her around, she was sarcastic, loud, outgoing; everything he was not. She even spent an entire lunch with him, listening as he rambled on and on about bees and how they function.

As Castiel sent the message, he got a second from his brother, informing him that Gabriel was outside.

Castiel wasted no time at all, immediately pushing himself off the bed and sprinted up the stairs, nearly running directly into his father, Zachariah. Luckily, he stopped only a moment beforehand, but still earned a disapproving look.

“You need to be careful!” His dad scolded him with raised eyebrows, “What did I say about running in this house?” Cas blinked once, opened his mouth, and was promptly cut off by Zachariah answering his own question, “No running. You weren’t raised by a pack of wolves, Castiel, so you need to stop acting the part.”

“My apologies, Gabriel is waiting outside, and I didn’t see you” Cas replied in earnest, subconsciously leaning in the direction of the front door. Zachariah seemed to notice Castiel’s eagerness to get to his brother and sighed.

“You’re going to make both you and your brother late, you know.”

Cas nodded obediently and replied, “Goodbye, Father.” He slipped away from his overly controlling dad, muttering that he did nothing wrong under his breath. He pushed open the door, and right off the front porch sat Gabe and his car.

Stepping outside was like walking into a wall of pure heat. It was oddly warm out for September, and two female cardinals were perched on the powerlines, singing to their hearts’ content.

“Cassie!” Came the familiar greeting of his annoying sibling. Castiel rolled his eyes as he slid into the passenger seat and slammed the door. Gabe had the radio on low, acting as a white noise, and he couldn’t recognise the song that was playing. “It’s nice seeing you again, kiddo. I haven’t seen you since Monday.”

“I have had school all week, Gabriel,” Cas replied matter-of-factly, “Besides, it isn’t as if I can just go wherever I want. You are my only ride.”

Gabe pulled out of the driveway and into the empty street, before clicking his tongue and humming in agreement, “Well, it would be nice if I could stop by more often. You know, if our dad didn’t hate me so much.”

“He does not hate you!”

Gabriel looked at him briefly, amused, as they pulled up to the stop sign. Once the road was clear, he took a turn and replied, “Really? It sure seems like it.”

“Really. Just because you decided on not going to college doesn’t mean that he dislikes you. Taking over Mom’s shop was something you were and still are passionate about, and he and Naomi respect that. Why else would he be helping with your apartment bill?”

“Because he loved Mom and doesn’t want to see the thing she spent all of her time doing collapse because I couldn’t afford it.”

Cas chuckled and tipped his head back to rest on the seat. “Please, Gabe, stop being so stubborn. He hasn’t casted you out of the family! You still come over multiple times a week to pick up Hael and I for work, or just to ‘hang out’ as you would say. You don’t have to live up to Michael’s impeccable standards to receive our father’s affection. And you certainly are not like Lucifer.”

Gabriel didn’t reply as they pulled into the shopping plaza that housed Sweet Tooth Yogurt. Castiel unbuckled as the older boy turned off the engine of his ugly, silver automobile.

Castiel waited patiently as Gabe unlocked the door. It was early, but past rush hour, so not many cars were on the road. A young girl rode along the sidewalk on her bicycle, in the opposite direction of the elderly man walking his two small dogs.

Once the pair got inside the shop, Cas flicked on the lights and Gabriel turned around the sign on his door so it went from saying “Closed” to “Open”.

Castiel took a small moment to stop and admire the room he was in. Sorrow filled his chest as he looked around, a dull remembrance of his past. The robin’s egg blue walls were his mother’s favorite color, and she had spent weeks finding the perfect pictures to adorn the vast walls with. She wanted it to be a bright, happy place that anyone in the town could go to and not only eat some of the best frozen yogurt in the area, but relax as well.

He snapped his head around when he felt a hand on his shoulder, but relaxed when he realized it was only Gabe.

Turning halfway to look at the slightly shorter, yet older boy, Cas had expected a smirk to be plastered on the other’s face. Instead, he could see his own sadness reflected in the golden eyes of Gabriel.

With a small smile, Gabe patted his shoulder, “We all miss her.”

Castiel sighed and nodded in agreement. Without verbally replying, he retreated into the employee’s room to prepare for his shift.

Cas decided to stay there for a moment to clear his head. Losing a family member was tough, especially when Hannah Novak was the one who kept their family together. Three years without her really changed everything, and not for the better.

Hannah absolutely loved everything sweet, passing the trait on to Gabriel. She opened up this shop in hopes of sharing that love with anyone she could, and the people seemed to love it.

Zachariah truly loved Hannah. So did Lucifer. It’s amazing how people can change; Zachariah became stone cold and irritable while Lucifer ended up moving a few states over to Detroit after being kicked out of the family. Her sudden death tore apart their entire community, not just their family.

He shook his head slightly to clear it. If he was going to be serving any of the multitude of customers that were bound to come in on this oddly hot day, Cas needed his stoicism to return.

The green apron sat hanging on a hook, under a plaque with his name on it, as if it were trying to antagonize him with its stupid, lime green fabric and blue logo. He needed to convince Gabe, who, mind you, did not wear one of these abominations, to stop forcing the employees to wear the ridiculous, uncomfortable pieces of cloth.

As he was tying the string around the small of his back, Cas could hear the unmistakable rumble of an engine pulling into the parking lot. It was muffled, sure, but Cas could almost be one hundred percent positive that he’d heard it before.

It almost sounded like the Chevy Impala that came to pick up Sam from school most days of the week.

Castiel hurriedly finished tying the absurd material around his neck and pushed out the large door to see if his assumptions were correct.

Gabe sat leaning against the counter, his back to Castiel. As soon as the younger boy closed the door behind him, Gabriel turned around with a smirk.

“Nice apron, Casanova,” he teased with a chuckle, pulling an unwrapped lollipop from seemingly out of nowhere and popping it into his mouth.

Cas forced his expression to remain unreadable, for he knew his brother was trying to annoy him. He thought of simply removing the clothing article and throwing it in the trash, but was interrupted by the main door swinging open.

“Winchester!” Gabe announced, pushing himself fully off the counter into an upright position.

Cas looked over towards the door, where Dean Winchester was making his way towards their end of the room. Sure enough, Castiel was correct about whose car was in the parking lot, but was mildly confused as to why Samuel wasn’t with his brother.

“It’s kinda cold in here,” Dean announced once he neared the brothers. Gabriel snorted while Cas moved away from the door and closer to the others.

Most customers didn’t arrive until later on, at lunchtime. This meant that Dean must have been listening to what times Cas’ shifts began, and that thought made him very pleased.

“Hello, Dean,” He greeted with a slight nod of his head.

Dean flicked his eyes from Gabriel and they landed on Cas instead. Cas couldn’t help but hold his gaze. He told himself it was because eye contact was something he practised with everyone, not just the boy with the beautifully vibrant, green eyes.

“Hey Cas,” Dean replied with a smile, snapping Castiel out of his minute trance and breaking eye contact, “I’m surprised no one else is in here,” Dean observed to no one in particular while turning to look at the array of empty seats. 

“Yeah-” Gabe started before Cas cut him off.

“That may be because we opened about five minutes ago.”

“That was kind of rude, Cassie. Don’t cut me off like that!”

Castiel stared at his sibling as he bit the candy off of the lollipop stick. With narrowed eyes and a practised calm, he said:

“I have told you numerous times, Gabriel, my name is not Cassie. You already make me wear this ridiculous apron to work in front of our many patrons, the least you could do is respect my wishes of being addressed in the correct way.”

Gabriel opened his mouth, most likely to scold him for his attitude, when he was once again cut off, this time by Dean’s chuckling.

Cas pulled his eyes off his brother and to the green-eyed boy who was looking back and forth between both Novak boys. His shoulders shook slightly as he continued with his small laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Gabe inquired, now amused.

Cas smiled smally to himself as Dean’s laugh progressed. Gabriel grew frustrated rather quickly, gave a sigh, and walked into the back room, muttering something about not forgetting to replace the old napkin holders. Not that either of the other two teens noticed.

The Winchester’s chuckle was now a full blown laugh, and he was bent over slightly with his palm covering his face, as if trying to conceal it.

Cas shuffled sideways so he was centered behind the counter and directly in front of Dean, his smile growing as Dean tried calming himself.

Dean sat up and ran his fingers through his short, sandy-colored hair.

“That was quite a laugh,” Castiel noted. Dean looked back at him. Cas also secretly noted the way Dean’s eyes crinkled in the corners when he was smiling and how his they shone brightly, and how the freckles that dusted his face were now flushed red from the laughter. Of course, he would never admit to it.

Dean sighed, dropping his hand to wipe the small wetness away from his eyes.

“Sorry about that,” He began, eyes locked on Castiel. Cas tilted his head, not sure why Dean should be sorry for laughing, “You two act just like my brother and I do”

Castiel still didn’t understand why the other teenager could have been laughing so hard. “I fail to see the amusement in that, Dean,” Cas replied honestly.

Dean shrugged and looked away in thought momentarily, as if searching for something to say.

When he came up with something, Dean dropped his gaze back to Castiel and sighed, that shine in his eyes growing dim, “Neither do I. It’s just- I don’t know- This past week or so have been kind of tough.”

Castiel’s initial thoughts of what could have been wrong were of Sam. Maybe something was happening with him that Cas didn’t know of!

“What happened? If you don’t mind my asking.”

He didn’t miss the flash of uncertainty that briefly showed in Dean’s expression. The older boy fixed his gaze on a sign slightly above Castiel’s head, the one that listed the prices and such.

“Just under fifteen years ago my, uh, my mom, she passed away.” He looked to Castiel and gave him a weak smile, “I know it was so long ago, and I was only four when it happened, but it still sucks, y’know? And I know she would have wanted to be here when Sam started high school.”

Dean shifted a bit, uncomfortable with sharing his past events. Cas nodded in understanding, not wanting to push Dean into sharing if he didn’t want to, but also wanting to help. 

“Losing a family member is always and will always be tough,” Castiel replied, making sure the empathy was evident in his voice.

He was about to say something more when the Dean turned and began walking towards the yogurt dispensers, grabbing a small cup along the way.

“What flavor do you recommend, Cas?” He called over his shoulder.

Sensing the change in mood, Cas smiled as he replied, “I like the blueberry one.”

“I guess I’ll try that, then.”

Cas watched in amusement as Dean filled his bowl to the brim with the light blue dessert, then piled on nearly every topping they offered, purposely staying away from the fruit.

Dean walked very carefully back over to the counter with his ‘pink cup of diabetes’, as Sam would say, and a small smirk. He placed it gently down on the scale, as to not spill any of the overflowing chocolate chips or sprinkles.

“How much will it be?” he questioned.

“Two seventy-five,” Cas replied, looking up at Dean from reading the price conversion on the scale.

“Not bad,” Dean shrugged, handing Castiel a five dollar bill. Cas took the cash and slid it into the cash register before handing Dean his change.

“Two twenty-five is your change, sir,” Cas said before rubbing his nose a bit to relieve it of an itch.

Dean rolled his eyes at the formality and snatched his cup off the scale. The sudden movement caused a handful of loose sprinkles and a single gummybear to fall off and onto the counter, earning a snort from Cas and a muttered “Son of a bitch!” from Dean.

Dean placed his yogurt back on the counter and Castiel closed the cash register so they could wipe up the mess.

Dean glanced up at Cas as he began sweeping the sprinkles off of the countertop with one hand and into the other before doing a doubletake.

“Cas,” he began.

“Yes?” Castiel lifted his head and simultaneously threw his handful of chocolate sprinkles into the silver trash bin that was behind the counter. Dean’s face had confusion and mild concern written all over it.

“Your nose is bleeding pretty badly. You okay?”


End file.
